Family, friends and teammates of Lauren Jones, the former captain of Southwest DeKalb High School's varsity gymnastics team, held a candlelight vigil on Feb. 21 to remember her. Jones, 18, died of meningococcemia while attending the University of Oregon on a partial scholarship for acrobatic...

A severe message was sent loud and clear to youth in South DeKalb, “Stop the Violence.” A motorcade of hearses went up and down Flat Shoals Parkway on Feb. 22 to show youth where they could end up if they make the wrong decisions and participate in violent acts. Read More at www.ocgnews.com.

At the Feb. 19 State of the College address, Georgia Piedmont Technical College President Jabari Simama announced plans for a new campus that will open this summer on Wesley Chapel Road in Decatur. Read more at www.ocgnews.com.

Rockdale State Court Judge Nancy N. Bills was honored recently for 10 years of service on the bench by the Rockdale Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Oz Nesbitt thanked Bills for her service and presented a proclamation on behalf of the three- member board declaring Feb. 10 as “Nancy Bills...

Welcome to On Common Ground News covering DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale

Spotlight On: Suite 20 Day SpaFriday, 27 February 2015 Suite 20 Day Spa, 4635 Flat Shoals Parkway, Decatur, has added manicures and pedicures to its menu of services. The salon, known as the “Home of the $10 Do,” has brought on board a licensed nail technician to provide services on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. “We are really...Read more...

City of Greenhaven gets green light from feasibility studyFriday, 27 February 2015Stonecrest group files intent to incorporate legal notice The proposed city of Greenhaven, which would include about 295,000 residents in a 126.2-square-mile area in South DeKalb, has received the green light from the Carl Vinson Institute at the University of Georgia. Ted Baggett, the...Read more...

It’s Not Fair: Memory Loss DiscriminatesFriday, 27 February 2015A Special Message by Emory Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Today, Alzheimer’s and dementia strikes African- Americans twice as often as it does whites and often leaves their caregivers emotionally and financially drained. Twenty-three percent (21.3 %) of African-Americans age 71 and older...Read more...

Rev. Edward Wheeler to take ITC helm in AprilFriday, 27 February 2015The Rev. Edward L. Wheeler has been named president of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) to succeed Ed Wimberly, who will continue to serve the school and the new president in a role to yet be determined. Wimberly served as president for two years. With the election of ITC’s Board...Read more...

Rockdale’s first African American female firefighter ready for duty Friday, 27 February 2015 For the last 14 weeks, 25-year-old Loriel Price has balanced two jobs, two kids and still managed to take care of her father, Charles, who is a disabled veteran. Rockdale’s first African American female firefighter has been training at the fire department from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and then...Read more...

“The Originals” brings New Orleans to Conyers Friday, 27 February 2015 The streets of Olde Town Conyers were transformed into a New Orleans Mardi Gras shopping district on Feb. 23 when The CW's “The Originals” set up shop to shoot segments for an episode. In the fictional vampire series, “The Originals,” a spinoff of “The Vampire Diaries” (also shot in Conyers),...Read more...

DeKalb school district moves step closer to full accreditation Friday, 27 February 2015The DeKalb County School District’s accreditation status has been upgraded from “Accredited Warned” to “Accredited on Advisement,” one notch from full accreditation. The Southern Accreditation for Colleges and Schools (SACS) placed the district on probation in December 2012, after citing...Read more...

DeKalb CEO Ellis denies wrongdoing in Special Grand Jury probe

DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis is denying any wrongdoing and promising full cooperation in the wake of authorities raiding his home and office this morning as he testified before a Special Grand Jury about the county’s watershed management department.

DeKalb District Attorney Robert James declined to comment on the raid or the investigation. Ellis said, however, that the Special Grand Jury questioned him about the county’s contracting process, primarily in the watershed management department.

Authorities raided Ellis’ home in Stone Mountain and his office in downtown Decatur today around 10:30 a.m., while he was testifying before a Special Grand Jury. Ellis said he has been asked “how we go about letting projects” primarily in watershed management during an ongoing investigation in which he has been called twice to testifyEllis said that he has been cooperating fully with the D.A. and that he was a “little perplexed” that the raid took place while he was testifying today.

Ellis said his 83-year-old mother, who was visiting from out of town, answered the door at his home in the Southland community. Three unmarked police cars reportedly were staked out in front of Ellis’ residence.

“They rang the doorbell and in her(his mother’s) words, ‘They were coming in’, but she let them in…,” Ellis said.

Ellis said the warrant executed was “extraordinarily broad in scope.” He said he had no idea of specifically what authorities wanted.

“I don’t know what they’re looking for. It’s my understanding that they’ll leave me alist of anything taken. I have a safe in my home and I gave them the combination to that safe so they can take anything in there that they might want,” Ellis said.

Authorities have been investigating allegations of corruption, bid rigging and kickbacks in DeKalb’s Watershed Management Department since last year. The county said Champion Tree Service overbilled the water department by $3 million with the help of a county supervisor who allegedly steered contracts to certain vendors working with one of the supervisor’s family members.

Bob Wilson, an attorney for contractor Paul Champion, said however, those claims are a cover-up for alleged financial mismanagement and a kickback scheme involving upper-level managers at the county.

DeKalb hired Champion Tree Service to cut vegetation so another contractor could map the county’s stormwater and sewer lines in preparation for a $1.35 billion overhaul of the system.

Champion filed a lawsuit last year, saying the county owed him more than $880,000 for his work. In counterclaims, the county said it stopped payment after an audit revealed multiple invoices for the same property and bills for larger areas than were designated for the work.

DeKalb fired two Watershed employees for their alleged role in approving the invoices. Nagmeh Maghsoudlou, a supervisor who oversaw the Champion contract, was one of those fired. Her brother-in-law, Hadi Haeri, worked for Champion, and also faces allegations of wrongdoing.